For those of you still waiting to purchase a Falcon, I havecompiled a list of some stuff that has been tested on it (notjust by me, mind you). This list is based on some originalresearch and the idea of Cottonwood Computers, which is a USAAtari retailer. I have used only a small part of their list,which originally contained a lot of programs I guess nobody hasever heard of, and have afterwards added a lot of stuff myself(from other sources as well as my own experience). Please realize that some of the programs featured here have beenused extensively whereas some others, obviously, haven't. Ican't take any responsibility for the accuracy of the datafeatured here. Of course, you should also take into considerationthat what is tested for here is Falcon compatibility, not"MultiTOS" compatibility! If "MultiTOS" compatibility is known,this will be indicated. I would like to send thanks to some of the people whose researchI have also used: Piper, Kai Holst, Gregg, Sean Dourgherty, CutFlügel, David Fairweather, Silicon Magic, Bob DeWitt, JohnStansford, Paul Glover, Heiko Hartmann (who runs an extensivecompatibility list on internet, including flag settings for"Backward", most excellent!) and John Eidsvoog. Last but not least I'd like to mention that some of the stuffI've tested myself was tested on a 4 Mb TOS 4.04 Falcon, withSinister Developments' FBoot version 1.2 handy, as well as"Backward" version 2.52. After each section, a success ratio is given: RUNS/TOTAL.

=================================================================GAMES================================================================= (All titles are originals to the best of my knowledge, exceptwhere noted)

1) Bombs when switching resolutions with it resident.2) And you can even leave instruction cache switched on.3) But you can't use it more than once with Chameleon installed (at least sometimes).4) The built-in screen saver bombs out too, so you have to disable it.5) This is the screen snapshot utility by Epigraf that you get with "Le Redacteur". It works, but does not recognize resolutions properly and writes the files with the wrong extension. With a bit of extra work it usually yields the correct results. Nonetheless I now have an undeletable (?!) file on my C: partitions called " .DOO".6) You can't edit actual tracks and sectors on floppy disk, but you can edit logical sectors on it.7) Works with Falcon cache turned off (can be done with the FCONTROL.ACC accessory).8) Editing files is no problem whatsoever. Editing large HDs directly through disk sectors is not possible (only 512 BPS allowed), and in general the only drive you can select at the "Edit disk" option is the drive that you booted from. This is caused by the fact that "Mutil" checks which drives are present by searching for the desktop store buffer in RAM to see which icons are on the desktop. These are on a different spot on the Falcon, of course.9) Said not to decompress properly in some rare cases, but there's a fixed version too (also numbered 3.5 though). Compression on a whole directory sometimes doesn't work either.A) It is even rumoured to trash your hard disk if used on the Falcon.B) You have to delete the music file, otherwise it'll bomb-crash.C) This certainly doesn't work with me (alas, alas!) but other lists say it does, so there might be different versions.D) With Backward the whole thing works...but receives no valid controller input (and therefore doesn't actually work).E) With Backward the whole thing works...but the ship is invisible most of the time, making it sortof difficult (impossible) to play.F) As with all other systems (i.e. (MEGA) ST(E), you have to disconnect a possible cable on the parallel port.

In general:

O When a game runs too fast on the Falcon, using it with "Backward" and with processor speed turned to 8 Mhz (and possibly blitter speed 8 Mhz too, and/or processor caches turned off) will yield a better result.O When the digi sound effects are really noisy, try running with "Backward" sound setting to "Spec". This helps in some cases ("Llamatron") and not in others ("Impact").O Programs tested to run with "FBoot" will most likely also work with "Backward", but not always vice versa!

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And that, as they say, is all folx. There will most likely beanother few instalments of this column (i.e. updated and extendedversions of it) in the next issues of ST NEWS. So furtherinformation as to programs' supposed Falcon (in-)compatibilityare welcomed at the correspondence address.

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